Open Your Eyes
by magickell
Summary: One-shot, I think. Set immediately after 6x22 and Mark's startling declaration. Mild adult language, nothing major. My first fanfic ever--as in ever ever, not just for this couple. Couldn't sleep and for some reason it poured out of me. Hope you enjoy.


Lexie paced outside the hall she knew so well. She'd lived here for months, the happiest time of her life. _I'm saying you could have a husband. _Those words had echoed over and over again in her mind as she stared across the table at Alex, while he regaled her with his successful diagnosis. The diagnosis _she'd_ essentially handed to him on a platter.

She cared about him. How could she not? She didn't just sleep with people she didn't care about and she'd thought she could fill the void in her life by trying to make a relationship with him. But it was hopeless. Her heart belonged to Mark. And wonder of all wonders, he was still in love with her. Dr. Mark Sloan was in love with her, Little Lexie Grey. Dr. Mark Sloan had been faithful to her and only her.

The man sitting across from her deserved better than a girlfriend who was still in love with someone else, just like he deserved better than a wife who left him at the first sign of trouble. "Alex… I'm sorry."

He paused. "For what?" he asked in his usual curt tone.

"I… I know I said I'm not over Mark but I lied. I'm sorry. I love him and… and he told me that he loves me and… and I can't not…"

His eyes changed, from casual boredom to an understanding that always surprised her. "I get it. Go on, Lexipedia."

She swallowed. "I'm sorry. Friends?" she asked.

He nodded, shrugged casually. "Sure."

Lexie hadn't wasted any time or allowed herself to think. She'd jumped in her car and drove to the apartment she'd once shared with Mark. The apartment she knew had seen countless women since she'd left; Teddy and that tramp Reed, certainly. But it didn't matter. They didn't matter. She knew that; had always known that, which had made his sexcapades bearable throughout the last several months. She'd known without a doubt that she was the only woman who had ever really mattered.

So here she was, pacing outside his apartment door, with no real plan of what to say or how to say it. She was Lexie Grey; she always had a plan. Not this time. This time, she was going to follow her heart. But oh, God, what if he had a woman in there? She didn't exactly have the right to just go barging in…

A sound in the hall behind her had her whirling around. Callie Torres paused, her weary face showing surprise and then pleasure. "Please tell me you're here to put him out of his misery," she said with a sigh.

Lexie flashed an uncertain smile. "I'm going to ask him to marry me."

Callie's jaw dropped. "Wow."

Lexie shrugged. "It's probably stupid but…. He told me earlier tonight that he was still in love with me. And I told him I had a boyfriend. And he said I could have a husband so… it's crazy, right?"

Callie shook her head and stepped forward. "No, no, it's not. I think it's great. I'm glad to see the jackass finally listened to me."

Lexie had to laugh. "It's just…. What if he has a woman in there?" she asked Callie softly.

Callie winced. It wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility. It was Mark, after all, and after confessing his love for Lexie and probably getting only stutters in response, he might have sought solace in sex, as was his typical MO.

"Listen… why don't you wait in my apartment and I'll go knock, just to make sure he's not… um… busy?"

Lexie nodded. "Okay."

Callie unlocked her apartment door for the younger doctor then made a beeline for Mark's apartment a few doors down. _Please be alone, Sloan,_ she thought. _At least let one of us have our happily ever after._

Mark answered her peremptory knock. "Hey," he said glumly.

"Hey. Uh… you alone?" she asked.

He shrugged, looking discouraged. "Yeah. Not really in the mood for more casual sex but I guess if you want to take our minds off of Robbins and Lexie, I could—"

"No! No, I'm fine, thanks. So, how did it go with Lexie? Did you tell her?"

"Yeah. She said she had a boyfriend and I told her she could have a husband. She stared at me and I walked away. Now I'm just waiting… hoping… for the phone to ring or for her to…" He swallowed, shrugged again, and looked away.

"Yeah, I know. Um… how about a movie?"

Her response was another uninterested shrug. "Sure."

"Great. I'll just go change then. Be back in a jiffy."

"A jiffy? Really, Torres?"

"Shut up."

Her heart light, Callie walked back to her apartment with a spring in her step for the first time in a very long time. She found Lexie pacing her living room. "He's alone. Get your ass over there."

Lexie smile and threw her arms around a surprised Callie. "Thanks!"

"I better be a bridesmaid."

Lexie laughed lightheartedly, though she was clearly still nervous. "I think Mark has probably already reserved you as a groomsman although in my opinion, you should be best man. Seriously… thanks, Callie."

"No problem, Little Grey. Go make my best friend a happy man."

Lexie took a deep breath outside Mark's door and with every ounce of courage, managed to knock. "Door's open, Torres," Mark called out. Swallowing, she opened the door and stepped inside.

"I've got some popcorn, I think. Although I think I'll just stick with Scotch. You might want to grab—" Mark stopped in the kitchen doorway as he saw who was standing in his living room.

"Hi," Lexie managed to whisper.

Mark cleared his throat and wondered if he was hallucinating. How much Scotch had he consumed since he got home? Not nearly enough to cause this perfect image standing in front of him, wearing the same clothes she'd worn when he'd finally had the balls to tell her how he felt.

"Hi," he managed to croak.

"Marry me."

Mark's eyes widened and he was pretty sure his knees actually went weak. "_What?_"

"You said I could have a husband and I want a husband… I want you. I'm sorry I wasn't ready to be a stepmother to Sloan, or help you raise a baby. I'm still not quite ready for a child, not yet, but I do want a child just… not yet." Swallowing, she forged on as he continued to stare at her. "What I do want is you. I broke up with Alex. And… I'm still in love with you, too so…. Marry me. If you were serious, I mean."

The shock slowly began to fade and a small smile crept across his face. Christ, he'd missed her nervous ramblings. Her confidence had grown but she was still his nervy, slightly neurotic Little Grey.

"Yes."

Still looking uncertain. "Y—Yes?" she stuttered.

Mark strode over the few feet and cupped her face in his hands. "Yes. I'll marry you. You say the word and we'll do it. Whenever you're ready."

Tears glistened in her eyes as she stared up at him. "I was so afraid… I—" He shook his head and pressed his lips to hers, letting out a small sound of pleasure and pain as he kissed her for the first time in months. Her taste had haunted him. It hadn't mattered how many women he'd kissed between their breakup and now, it was always her that he tasted before he fell into a restless sleep.

"Me, too. God, Lex…. I'm so sorry. For everything."

"Me, too. I'm sorry—"

"No, no more. Just…. Just this." He kissed her again, and felt her relax into him. For the first time in months, Lexie felt like herself. She met his gaze, rubbed her nose against his, then rubbed his bare cheek.

"I miss your beard. Will you grow it back?"

"If you get rid of the blonde."

They grinned at each other, both extremely grateful to be home and whole. They hadn't had to wait forty years to find their happily ever after. They'd been smart enough to open their eyes and grab it while they could.


End file.
